Shasta Diet Root Beer

I opened this earlier tonight while I was grading at school:

Brand: Shasta Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Hayward, CA.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: For a diet, this was pretty average. It had a typical "weak" and slightly watery flavor, but the flavor wasn't too bad. It's pretty frothy and creamy, but it ends with a slight off/"chemically" taste. Still, pretty decent. I'll rank it right in the middle: average.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Cock N' Bull Bitter Lemon

I opened this while cleaning up last night:

I didn't know what to expect! A "signature bitter taste?" Umm... I'm... excited?

Brand: Cock N' Bull Bitter Lemon.

Origin: Spring Grove, MN.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was undrinkable! The first sniff / sip seemed promising... like a lemon-heavy lemon-lime. But then the last moment of each drink is a POW of bitterness. It is SO bitter. My 8-year-old was home with me, and he couldn't drink it either. I tried making a mixed drink (because it notes that it's good as a mixer, and I could see that), but what I tried with it didn't work. It still wasn't that drinkable. (Although it was better.) I can understand that this could be good in the right mixed drink, but on it's own (and how I tried it with an Elderflower Liqueur) it's undrinkable. Try it if you're looking for a bitter lemon flavor to add into mixed drinks, but unless that's specifically what you're looking for, stay away!

Score: 1 out of 10.
 

Tower Grape Soda

I opened this tonight as I was cooking:

Brand: Tower Grape Soda.

Origin: North Reading, MA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar

Review: I don't know that I've had a "bad" grape soda. And this one wasn't bad either. It was sugary, sweet, and went down easy. It was nothing fancy or unique, but grape soda doesn't need to be. No complaints here! Tasty!

Score: 8 out of 10.
 

Pop Machine Options

Personally, I couldn't do it. I'm usually in the mood for a *specific* kind of soda, so I couldn't leave it up to the Lord.

Whistler Lemon Lime Soda

I opened the first of the 8 bottles that I picked up from Blue Sun Soda this past weekend. It was a Whistler Lemon Lime:

Proof that it was Lemon Lime (the bottles all look the same, but the bottle caps have stickers).

I've had issues with Whistler sodas not being sealed (like in my last one which I drank shortly after purchasing it and it STILL had an issue), so I drank this one 3 days after purchase. Luckily (and FINALLY), this soda "psssssstt"-ed when I opened it.


Brand: Whistler Lemon Lime.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was a really sweet lemon lime. I really enjoyed it! It was heavy on the lemon, and NEARLY seemed "thick" because of how sweet it was. Finally, a Whistler that I enjoyed! I knew I'd like some of their flavors, but they just kept selling my un-sealed bottles that had lost all carbonation. Maybe they figured it out, or maybe I just got lucky with this one, but it was good.

Score: 8 out of 10.

"State Fair" Soda Tasting at Blue Sun Soda

Saturday, the boys and I stopped by Blue Sun Soda Shop for a little tasting event they had advertised on Facebook. I knew it would be small (nothing like the big outdoor tasting event last year), but it was an excuse to get to the soda shop.

Blue Sun seems to be changing/expanding every time we stop. Last time we were there, this was where all the pinball machines were, and now it's an "old fashioned" soda shop:

Lots of flavors of soda, and also ice cream floats! (And hot dogs and chips.)

We found the soda tasting at the back of the store, which was just some open bottles and tiny plastic "sipping cups:"

"State Fair" sodas in front of John Wayne.

We all had tiny pours of all 5 kinds of soda. I looked on the labels and saw that the State Fair sodas were made right there at Blue Sun Soda. Here was my ranking from favorite (on the left) to least favorite (on the right):

"Cotton Candy" was like liquid cotton candy! Sweet and tasty! "Kettle Corn" was pretty decent,
tasting like sweet popcorn. "Rocket Bomb Pop" was just OK, "Mini Donut" was cinnamon-y
and alright, and I didn't care for "Chocolate Chip Cookie" that much.

Henry's ranking: he like Rocket Bomb Pop and Cotton Candy a lot.
Neither of my boys cared for Kettle Corn (ranked last).

New sodas: the boys met Billy last year, and they liked his goofy sodas here. The colors
don't match the flavors. (I bought a grape Billy's Bubble Pop, and that was the yellow one.)

A previously closed space in the back is now the arcade!

The other side of the arcade on the other side of the air hockey table.

The boys using their last quarters, with 2 other kids at the air hockey table.

In that first soda of the arcade, you can see my basket of sodas in the foreground. I walked out with 8 bottles, making it one of my smallest trips to Blue Sun. Thanks for the fun tasting event! We'll be back!

Fluids Soda Green Cooler

Yesterday, I started a quick 3-day project in our basement and up the basement steps. I opened this while working:

After a few hours of scraping and caulking, before getting a coat of primer on last night.

Brand: Fluids Soda Co. Green Cooler.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: Much like my first "Fluids" soda earlier this summer, I didn't know what flavor this was when I opened it. I guess I wasn't too surprised with this neon green turned out to be "green apple" flavored. It was OK. It was a little harsh, and it had that slight "wet cardboard" taste. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. I'm ranking this just below average.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.


Sidenote: here's my "before" shot of scraping from yesterday, and my "during" shot from right now after caulking and a few coats of primer on the bare spots:

Time to paint tomorrow! (Just got back with paint from Menards - all ready to go!)

Jarritos Mandarin

The boys and I stopped at Cub Foods 2 days ago (we rarely do because we are more of an "Aldi" family) for some ingredients for some Thai chicken, and we found a Jarritos that we hadn't tried yet:

Brand: Jarritos Mandarin.

Origin: El Paso, TX.

Purchase Place: Cub Foods, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This had a true "kick" of mandarin orange - it was not just a regular orange soda. And I don't know that I cared for it that much. You know the difference between an "orange" and an "orange cream" soda? Well, take that difference and make an orange soda with more of a bite than creaminess, and you'd have this soda. True that it has an appropriate mandarin kick, but it's just not something that I liked all that much. I'll rate this just below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.